It's a Funny Story, Actually
by AerosmithObsessed
Summary: Classic, simple story of boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl hates boy, boy and girl kiss, girl gets mad, boy loses girl, boy can't find girl, boy spends weeks searching for girl, boy finds girl, girl rejects boy, boy...you know what, maybe it's not so simple. Well, what do you expect. After all, it is Bade. T for language basically. Romace/Drama/Hopefully Humor.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know there's a billion but I really wanted to do and "The start of Beck&Jade" story. Don't worry though, I'm gonna (hopefully) try to make it different from all the others. This chapt. Is the set up so it'll prob be a lot longer than all the others. I had some trouble writing Jade falling in love because it was hard to imagine her thinking any of those cheesy 'Oh my gosh I think I might be in love' thoughts, but I did my best lol! I hope you guys enjoy it and tell me if I should go for it or just drop it, cause having 3 stories going at once… Idk how that'll go. Hahahahaha anyway, this has been long enough so… ENJOY (:**

**Jade's POV**

I was smart. I had always been a straight A student, always in GT classes. I had never had any trouble in school. But if there was one thing I couldn't figure out, it was how in the hell I ended up here, spending one of the last few precious days of summer break at a lame carnival with Cat.

It wasn't that I didn't want school to start. The opposite was true actually. The sooner I could get out of that damn house, the better. Not to mention this year I would be attending Hollywood Arts high school, one of the best performing arts schools in the US. What was even better is I wouldn't know anyone going there except Cat, my somehow best friend. I was hoping the kids at this school wouldn't be as big idiots as at my old school.

I was drawn out of my own deep thoughts when I heard Cat squeal, "Oh! Cotton Candy!" and pull me throw the crowd of obnoxious, loud people to the cotton candy stand a little ways off.

I groaned when we got there, after seeing there was already a large line. Cat dragged me over to stand behind two boys, who looked about our age, before I was able to snatch my hand away, growling. Cat payed no attention to my bitter disposition, however, as usual. She was used to it. She was also distracted, I realized. She was busy staring at the two boys in front of us.

I rolled my eyes. I'll admit they were attractive, but I wasn't exactly the flirt with random cute boys type of girl. Or the flirting type of girl period. However, I was curious, and decided to crane my neck slightly to get a clearer glimpse of the pair. The one boy was slightly shorter, but toned and muscular looking, with blond hair and blue eyes to match. The other was taller, skinnier, but still obviously toned like his friend. His skin was dark, the complete opposite of my own obnoxiously pale complexion, and he had ridiculously fluffy dark hair. He came across to me as one of those stupid boys who pretended to be all sweet just to get into your pants. Good thing sweet didn't work on me.

Cat let out a giggle and the two boys turned around. "Hi." Cat smiled flirtily to the blond.

"Hey." Said the blond, smiling back, "I'm Chris."

"I'm Cat," Cat said in her usual ditzy fashion, "Like the animal!"

"That's a cute name." said Chris with a wink, causing Cat to go into another fit of disgustingly flirtatious giggling.

I rolled my eyes at their banter, and only as I did my eyes fell on the other boy, who I had just noticed had been staring at me the whole time. "Take a picture, it'll last longer." I snapped.

I almost laughed at how Chris's eyes widened with fear, and resisted the urge to call him a pussy. I looked over to the other kid, expecting the same reaction, but to my surprise, his face appeared to remain impassive. In fact…was he…smiling?

Yep, he was definitely smiling as he said "I'm Beck."

I snorted, nonchalantly answering with a classic, "Whatever." before turning my attention away, trying to ignore the fact that I could still feel this 'Beck's' eyes on me.

After a few brief, awkward seconds, we reached the front of the line and Chris pulled Cat forward, saying "Here, I'll buy you one."

Before I had time to puke at the display, he had bought her a pink cotton candy, and had taken her hand, proclaiming he was taking her on the Ferris wheel.

"Cat!" I groaned as she walked away, winking very inconspicuously at me behind her back before she disappeared. Great. Now I was stuck alone all night.

"Looks like it's just me and you."

My head snapped up. I had almost forgotten about that boy with the hair. Yeah, this was much worse.

I narrowed my eyes, "You mean it's just _me." _I hissed in the scariest voice I could muster, hoping to drive him away. Again, he surprised me by not running away, or fainting, or peeing… but giving me a tilted grin and stepping forward in line.

"You want a cotton candy?" he said.

"No." I turned to walk away, but I barely got 3 yards before he ran up to me, following my like it was completely normal and popping a piece of blue fluff in his mouth.

"Why the hell are you following me?'

Again, he completely ignored me and instead said, "I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't _tell_ you." I grumbled, beginning to realize I wouldn't be getting rid of him anytime soon, as he appeared to be just as immune to my intimidating character as Cat was.

He looked at me expectantly until I rolled my eyes, finally saying, "Jade."

"Do you have a last name?"

"Duh."

"Will you tell me?"

"_No._"

"Well alright then." We stood there for a few moments, the lights and sounds of the carnival occupying my attention in the much welcome silence. When he spoke again, it was almost as if he were thinking aloud, "Jade…that's a pretty name."

"Beck's a stupid name." I retorted in a bored tone.

He gave me another one of those stupid little smiles."You wanna go on a ride?" he said, motioning over his shoulder.

"No."

"You wanna play a game?"

"No."

"You wanna get some food?"

"No."

"You sure say no a lot."

I groaned, realizing if I didn't agree to something, we'd spend all night standing in the middle of the carnival, because he wasn't fucking leaving me alone. "Fine." I said. "Let's go to the funhouse."

He smirked at me and I frowned.

"What?!" I snapped.

"Nothing. I just wouldn't expect that to be your first choice." He said shrugging innocently.

"If it scares little kids, it's fun." I replied matter-of-factly.

I heard him chuckle as I walked forward, setting a brisk pace and expecting him to keep up or get lost. I didn't understand this kid. I'd known him for a little less than five minutes and after yelling at him, ignoring him, insulting him, and telling him I like to scare little kids… all he can do is keep smiling and laughing at me. It's like he wasn't scared of anything. The only other person who wasn't scared of me was Cat and that was only because she was so repulsively naive. I guess that's why I liked her though. She still had the innocence I had lost long ago.

But back to the matter at hand, we were walking up to the creepy carnie who was stationed at the front of the funhouse.

"Tickets." He said.

I pulled out the three tickets required and practically threw them at him before continuing to the entrance. Beck appeared back at my side and gave me a sideways smile.

"Ready?" he said.

"Why wouldn't I be?!" I snapped. I still hadn't warmed up to him. I wasn't planning on warming up to him.

He ignored me and walked in, forcing _me_ to follow_ him_ for the first time that night. It was dark inside, and all that could be seen was the dim illumination of the stairs that we were meant to climb.

"After you." He said.

"Why?" I smirked, "Are you scared?"

"I don't get scared, I was just being polite." Well that confirmed my earlier prediction, "Why, are you?" he challenged, and I could hear that cocky little smirk plastered all over his stupid face.

Ugh. I hated him.

"Please." I said instead, chuckling incredulously. I took a step forward and groped the walls blindly in the darkness, as I could hear Beck doing the same behind me. I suppose it was bound to happen, both of us feeling around in a sightless search, but right then, I didn't think about that. All I was thinking about was the hand on my ass.

I stopped in my tracks. "What are you doing?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Looking for the stairs..?" he said, sounding genuinely confused. Please.

"Well I'd stop 'looking' if I were you." I warned, sounding dangerous.

"What do you mean?" he said.

"I mean, if you don't get your hand off my ass in the next 2 seconds you won't _have_ a hand." I hissed.

I felt him yank his hand away and for the first time that night, he sounded actually a little embarrassed as he said, "Oh, sorry."

"Whatever." I sighed, finding the steps and beginning to climb. What I couldn't figure out, is why haven't I killed this boy yet? Or at least kicked him in a certain place very _ver_y hard… Maybe I sort of didn't mind him…

No. I hated him. He wouldn't leave me alone, I couldn't scare him off, and he just _grabbed my ass_. Of course it could have been an innocent mistake, but- what am I saying! He's some jerk who just wants to make-out with me.

I made my way to the next level into the house of mirrors and took a step in, Beck following close behind, seemingly recovered from the previous situation. I began making my way through, reluctantly accepting help from Beck here and there. Just when I thought I was free of this idiotic torture, I took a step forward, ramming into the smooth glass surface in front of me.

"_Oomph_." I grunted, stumbling backwards into Beck. He caught me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I surprised myself when I hesitated before yanking myself out of his grasp, but recovered quickly, pinching my nose and muttering "Shit."

"Are you ok?" Beck laughed.

I scowled up at him, "Are you _laughing_ at me?" I growled, some of the edge lost due to the nasal effect of me holding my nose.

"Are you ok?''' he said, stopping his laughter as a serious look came across his face.

"Yes." I snapped.

"Then yes." He said, continuing to laugh.

I crossed my arms and frowned, but then something weird happened. I felt my frown morphing into a small smile. And then a bigger one. And then I was giggling, which is something I _don't_ do. And then I was full out laughing. We were laughing together… weird. I kind of liked it though.

Tell anyone and you're dead.

Anyway, after our laughter died out, Beck looked at me and with a smile said, "You know, you're really pretty when you smile."

"Are you saying I'm not pretty when I don't smile?" I said, my tone sounding a lot lighter than I intended.

"No." he said, and took a step forward. I realized then what was happening. He was going to try to kiss me. I took a step backwards and felt the glass against my back as he took another step forward. Before I could think about it I closed my eyes and leaned forward. My stomach was feeling really weird at this point, like it was doing flips off a cliff or something…

And then I remembered. Of course, he wants to make out. It's what he's wanted all along.

"I think it's this way." I said, taking a step away from him and walking off, not looking back to see if he's following. I made my way out to the stupid slide at the end and went down, concluding that that had been the lamest fun house ever. I felt a hand on my arm and stopped, turning around.

"Sorry 'bout that." Said Beck, once again appearing to be slightly embarrassed.

"Whatever." I shrugged, like it was no big deal. I refused to let him, a random stranger who I had meet not even an hour ago, see he was having some strange effect on me. One I had never experienced before.

"So…" he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yes?" I said impatiently.

"What now?"

I thought for a second, realizing I _was_ kinda hungry. "You're buying me food." I informed him, turning to walk to the nearest concession stand.

Beck walked up to the counter and without asking said to the man, "Two corndogs please." I frowned at him and he said, "What? You don't like corndogs?"

"They're a repulsive concept." I told him, wrinkling my nose in abhorrence as he handed me the food and payed the man.

"Have you ever had one?" he asked, taking a bite of his. He took my indignant silence as a no a proceeded to insist I "Just try it."

After a good 10 minutes of aggravating persistence on his part, I finally gave in, thoroughly irked and beaten. I sighed and took a small bite.

It wasn't _awful_.

I shrugged and took another, beginning to walk with Beck smiling victoriously behind me.

"So you wanna play a game?" Beck said.

I would've said no, but as he said it we were passing that throw-the-dart-at-the-balloons game and anything involving sharp objects sounded good to me. So I changed direction and walked over to the booth, Beck following obediently like he had been all night. I couldn't help but think he'd make a good boyfriend.

Not my boyfriend. Just a boyfriend…Seriously. And never mention it again.

We walked up to yet another unsettling carnie and Beck payed the man for 10 darts, splitting them evenly between me and himself.

"Ladies first." I teased, gesturing to his darts. He smirked at me and I smiled back. Ok, so maybe I was warming up to him a _little_. _Just_ a little though.

He threw the darts, making only 1 out of his 5. I scoffed as he missed the last four and he raised his eyebrow at me.

"It's rigged. All these carnival games are." He argued, "Besides, I'd like to see you do any better?"

Instead of answering, I picked up the darts and made quick business of throwing each perfectly into five different balloons. Beck's mouth literally dropped and I gave him a smug look, saying sarcastically "You want the pink tiger?"

The carnie, looking very annoyed I had beaten their little game, shoved a small stuffed animal in my direction. I rolled my eyes, "I don't want this." I snapped at him, starting to push it back, but Beck caught my hand.

"Yes she does." He said, smiling kindly at the carnie and walking away, grabbing the stuffed animal and me by the hand as he did.

"What was that for?" I asked sharply.

"It's your prize." He said smiling.

"It's stupid, and I don't want it." I argued.

"Sure you do. I'll carry it for you if you don't want to." He said.

I groaned, "Whatever."

I looked back at him when he didn't say anything to see he was just standing there, staring at me and smiling.

"What?!" I barked, impatient.

"You didn't yank your hand away." He said, a big stupid smile on his face.

I looked down at my hand, still in his, and couldn't help but think that they fit together perfectly. Almost like they belonged together. I scowled at him. I still didn't pull away.

"Come on." He said, beginning to pull me away.

"Where?" I groaned.

"The Ferris wheel."

"Why."

"Because."

We didn't say anything else but walked, his hand still holding firmly onto mine, in the direction of the Ferris wheel. We got there, gave the man our tickets and I sat on the bench, Beck sliding in next to me and shutting the door before the ride started up.

"So..?" Beck said.

"What?" I grumbled, simultaneously wondering why he never finished his sentences and always started with 'so..?'.

"Do you still hate me?" he said.

"I never actually said I did." I told him.

"But you did."

"Yes, but I never said it."

He smiled, but then pushed again, "Well do you?"

I rolled my eyes at him, before mumbling "No." I may be a lot of things, but I wasn't a liar. "That doesn't mean I 'like' you though. I just don't 'hate' you." I added quickly.

"I can live with that." He said, chuckling.

"So why aren't you scared of me?" I asked, saying what had been on the tip of my tongue all night. The only thing I was dying to ask.

"I told you, I'm not scared of anything." He said, sounding proud.

"Yeah, sure. Well then why don't you hate me?" I said, as casually as if I were talking about the weather.

"Why would I hate you?" he said, wrinkling his brows in genuine confusing.

"Cause I'm a bitch..?" I said, as if it were obvious, which it was.

"No you're not. I like you." He said.

"Yeah I realized, but why?" I pressed, eager to know, honestly curious.

"I don't know. You're funny, you're smart, you're witty, you're beautiful. I guess you're just different." He said, shrugging.

I squinted. I wasn't used to getting compliments. Suddenly I felt very vulnerable, and I was unsure why. "Cheesy." I said.

"Maybe." He said smiling. And then he was leaning in again. And I let him this time.

I closed my eyes and I swear as soon as his lips touched mine, I felt a jolt of electricity go through me. And you can trust me on that because I'd never say something that corny and gross if it weren't true. I had only been kissed once or twice, but this was so much better than the other times. Our lips moved together in unison and I raised my hand to hold onto the back of his neck, tangling my hands in his hair as I did. He put his hand on my upper back and I could feel him smiling into the kiss. I was swept up in the moment and I couldn't even think about what was actually happening.

Until the ride came to a stop at the bottom and I heard Cat squeal "Jadey!"

I jumped away from Beck like he was poison and looked over to where Cat was waving and grinning. Chris was still with her. He winked at Beck, giving him a thumbs up and mouthing, 'nice one man.' I knew it. The whole time. It was just an act to try and make-out with me. I felt my heart drop and embarrassment creep over me. I'd always prided myself on _not _being one of those idiot girls who allowed themselves to be used and thrown away like garbage. And that's exactly what this jackass did to me in one fucking night.

I stood up and walked over to Cat yelling, "We're going now Cat."

"Jade! Where are you going!?" Beck called out behind me.

I kept walking faster and didn't answer, dragging Cat to where her mother was parked, ready to take us home. I was ready to get as far away from him as possible.

"Ok, see ya around!" I heard him yell, and I rolled my eyes.

No chance in hell.

**Beck's POV**

"Yo, why was that chick you were working so upset?" said Chris.

"I don't know, but I wasn't just 'working' her." I said defensively.

"Well what do you call what you were just doing?" he said, smirking.

"We were just… shut up I like her." I laughed.

"Man, she's creepy." He said

I suddenly felt angry, defensive of her. "No she's not. She's amazing man…seriously."

"Well did you get her number?"

"Shit!" I exclaimed, running a hand through my hair frustrated.

"It's okay just look her up on facebook or whatever." He said, patting my back and beginning to walk away.

"_Shit!"_ I exclaimed, grabbing the stuffed animal next to me and turning to run after her.

"What?!" called out Chris as I ran away.

"I never got her last name!" I yelled behind me.

How could I be such an idiot? How could I spend the entire night with the most perfect girl and not get her last name _or_ any contact information!? Damn it, I'm only in 9th grade, but I'm almost 99% sure this is love. And I don't care if I _am_ cheesy because it's true. I ran through the carnival, shoving people mercilessly out of the way to get to the car pulling out of the parking lot. I got there too late and the car pulled out into the road. Damn it, was I really going to do this?

Yup. I ran out into the street, panting, as I tailed the car, driving through town. I know, I'm an idiot. How can I expect to keep up with a moving car? But I had to hope I could reach it. I couldn't let her go. But I did. I stopped running as the car sped out of sight, and stood where I was, gasping for breath. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, _shit._

I walked back to the carnival, stuffed animal in hand, defeated, tired, and fully aware that I'd be spending possibly the next year of my life looking for the mysterious Goth girl that stole my heart.

**A/N: Yeah. So let me know if this is even worth pursuing. I'm trying to make it different from the normal 'Beck and Jade meet' fics, even though I always love reading those (; Anywho, review if you wanna and I'll hopefully have an update soon…maybe..probably.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! You guys are the best! Sorry this chapter's kind of short. It had to be done. You'll get more next time, I promise!**

**Beck's POV**

Last night, I kissed the girl of my dreams. And this morning, all I had to show for it was a cheap stuffed animal. Now, as I sat staring at it from across the RV I lived in, I was racking my brain, trying desperately to figure out how the hell I was gonna find this girl.

I looked at the notepad in my hands, where I had written down everything I knew about her. Her first name, Jade. Her hair, chestnut brown with reddish pink streaks. Her eyes, an electrifying blue. Her skin, as white as porcelain and as pale as a ghost. Every detail of her appearance, and her complex personality, stuck in my brain like a bad pop song. Remembering her wasn't hard. It was the finding her that was going to be difficult.

I knew she had to live somewhere in the LA area, assuming she hadn't traveled very far to attend a cheap, lame carnival. I had no idea where to begin. The only thing I could really think of to do was to phone up every "Jade" in the LA region and ask if they had gone to a carnival last night. That would take all day, at least.

But that's what I did.

I spent that whole day, until four in the morning, flipping through Yellow Pages and phoning up every girl with the name "Jade" who lived in or around Los Angeles. I started at Jade Abbott, and made my way down the list, which continued all the way to a Jade Zowinski.

I had some interesting conversations. I spent close to an hour on the phone with eighty year old Jade Carman who told me all about her twenty-seven grandchildren before she let me hang up, wishing me luck with my "mystery girl". Sometimes, it killed me how polite I was.

I talked to a Jade Finkle, who spent the whole time we were on the phone crying about her ex-boyfriend Danny, and sobbing out unintelligible sentences about how it was "all her fault" and how "she didn't know how she'd be able to live without him". I crossed that one off the list in about two seconds.

I met a lady named Jade Harminn, who's been in prison six times for violence, among other things. She asked me how old I was and if I'd be willing to settle for an older women. I said sorry but no thank you, she angrily asked where I lived, and I hung up the phone faster than when you get a call from an annoying telemarketer.

I had talked to close to one hundred Jade's so far, but none of them were _my_ Jade. I let out a frustrated sigh as I crossed off my last attempt of Jade Vangelo and looked back at the book, seeing the next name was "Jade West." I dialed the number half-heartedly, beginning to feel all my efforts would turn out to be fruitless. It rung twice before a man picked up, answering with a gruff, "Hello?"

"Hi, is Jade there?" I asked, the sentence rolling smoothly off my tongue after reciting it so many times today.

"Who is this?" he asked, sounding angry.

I frowned confused, "Um, my name is Beck…"

"Why are you calling?" he asked me.

I exhaled softly, ready to explain my story yet again. "I met a Jade yesterday, and I didn't get her last name. I'm trying to find her."

"Why?"

"Because I like her. I love her, I think."

The man let out a churlish sounding bark of laughter. "Well, you've got the wrong Jade."

"Oh. Well can I talk to her?" I said, wanting to be sure.

"Listen boy, you definitely don't 'love' the Jade that lives here. Got it?" he said, sounding impatient.

"Oh…Ok. Well thanks anyway." I said, assuming the Jade that lived there was his wife or something.

"Sure." Said the man, his voice lacking much emotion, as he hung up.

I groaned, flopping onto my bed in exhaustion and taking a large swig of Mountain Dew before starting back up with "Jade Witnest".

********************************2 hours later******************************************

I looked down at my list of girls, yawning, before throwing it down angrily. Over four hundred Jades in the Los Angeles area and not one had been the right one. Picked up my list of the things I remembered about _my _Jade, trying madly to think if there was something I had forgotten. There had to be something. Some minor detail that before seemed unimportant, but was the one thing that would piece everything together. Maybe I could remember the license plate of the car she left in. No, who am I kidding. Besides that probably wasn't even her car. After all, she left with her friend…

Her _friend._ "That's it!" I cried out, even though I was alone in my RV. Twenty-one hours of talking to strangers on the phone can do that to a guy, ya know.

I remembered her calling her friend, the one with the red hair, Cat. But what was her last name…she never mentioned it. Damn it, I wasn't prepared to spend another sleepless day on the phone. Then I remembered Chris. He spent the whole night with her, he had to remember!

I quickly grabbed my phone and pulled up his contact, hitting 'call' anxiously. It rung four times while I impatiently tapped my foot.

"Beck?" Chris answered the phone groggily.

"Chris! I need your help!" I said quickly, hyped up on caffeine, sugar, and lack of sleep.

"Dude, it's like…four A.M." he said, sounding both annoyed and confused.

"Look, I just need you to tell me, what was that girl at the carnival's last name. Cat." I explained.

"I don't know man, I kind of blocked out her babbling 10 minutes into hanging with her." He said.

"Come on, think. She had to have mentioned it. At least once." I begged.

"Ugh," Chris groaned, "I don't know. I think it was like…Valentino or…Valentine. Or something like that."

"Thanks man!" I said graciously, feeling some relief for the first time that day. Some reassurance that I wasn't completely crazy.

"Please tell me you're not still looking for that Goth girl." Chris said, sounding amused.

"I'm going to find her." I answered, defiant and annoyed.

"Whatever man, you're crazy." He chuckled.

"Whatever. See ya man." I said with an eye roll.

"Yeah, see ya." He said, hanging up the phone.

I pushed 'end call' and rolled back into my bed, sighing happily, content with my days work. Tomorrow I would find this "Cat Valentine". And then I would find my mystery girl.

**A/N: Yeah I know it was short. Kind of a filler chapter I suppose. I'm planning on getting to the 'meat' so to speak next chapter, so I'll start working on that later. Review, if you please (:**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Heyo. Sorry this took so long…I was having a hard time figuring out where I was going with this. Also, sorry for the lack of bade togetherness…next chapter is where it should start getting a lot more badey… hopefully I'll have that up soon now that I know where I'm going. Also I've been watching a lot of How I Met Your Mother recently…lol can you tell..? MORE BADE NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE! (:**

**Beck's POV**

I woke up the next morning (well technically the same morning since I hadn't gotten to bed until five) feeling much more optimistic than I had been the previous morning. I rolled out of my bed, and after a quick breakfast and some coffee to keep me functioning, I brushed my teeth, pulled on a clean shirt, and got out my 'old friend' the Yellow Pages.

I flipped through the pages, bookmarked now to various Jades (all for nothing, I reminded myself painfully) and found Cat Valentine. I beamed, thanking God the name Chris remembered actually _did_ exist. I ran my finger over the page and grimaced as I found a coffee stain covering the phone number. I was so delirious last night, flipping through the pages, I must not have noticed I spilled. My finger went to the next best thing, the girl's address. And it was close enough to walk.

I had a mini battle inside my head then. Part of me argued that it was just plain weird to pop up at a random stranger's house, asking questions about a friend they probably didn't know you knew. However, most of me made the point that it could be the only way to ever find Jade. And God only knows how bad I needed that. I had my lead. Now I just had to follow it.

Finally making up my mind, I grabbed my RV keys and stepped outside, locking the door responsibly. I ran over to the house to tell my mom I was going to my friend Jake's house (she always told me to stay away from strangers' houses) and then set out to find the Valentine house.

It was about a ten minute walk, which gave me plenty of time to plan out what I would say. I'd say, 'I know it sounds crazy, but last night I think I fell in love with your friend, and now I can't find her. Please help me, I'm desperate. I need to talk to her again.' And then she'd melt, because girls always melt at cheesy romantic things like that, right? And she'd give in and give me Jade's phone number, and I'd call her, and we'd go on a date, and she'd fall in love with me because I know she felt that spark when we kissed too, or else she wouldn't have kissed back.

There was a moment when I was crossing at a street corner and, not looking where I was going, nearly got hit by a car in the middle of a police chase. That was the thing about police chases- people always got hurt, I thought absently as I continued my walk a bit more cautiously.

I looked up to see I had wandered, luckily I might add, into the correct neighborhood. I scanned the houses, locating number 209, and walked up to it quickly. I took a deep breath and raised my hand to knock on the hard wood. No sooner had my hand knocked than the door flew open. Yep, that was her alright. I could have recognized the artificial red hair anywhere.

"Hi!" she said excitedly. It almost sounded as if she knew me, but I could tell she didn't really recognize the boy that she had caught sucking face with her presumably best friend.

"Cat?" I said, making sure it really was her, and not some kind of doppelganger or twin or something…

"Whatty?" She said, sounding naïve and confused. It was hard to believe Jade was friends with her. Well, opposites attract I guess. Polar opposites.

"I-I'm looking for-Jade." I stuttered out, smacking myself mentally. So much for my big romantic speech.

"Jadey?" she said, her eyebrows wrinkling.

"Yeah…" I said, unable to help chuckling a little at the nickname 'Jadey' . "I'm the guy she was hanging out with the other night. While you were with my friend, Chris."

"Oh, you're Beck!" she said, realization coming across her face.

"Yeah." I said, beginning to smile, "She talked about me?"

"Yeah. She said you were… well, my mom doesn't let me use those words." Cat said, looking embarrassed.

"Oh." I said, unable to keep the disappointment out of my voice. "Well… is there any chance you could give me her number or something?" I said hopefully.

"Um… She said she didn't want to see you again. She said if I ever run into you, to _not_ tell you her phone number." Said Cat, looking a bit sad.

"Well what if you…gave me her address? She didn't say anything about that, did she?" I said, feeling guilty about trying to trick this obviously ditzy but sweet girl.

"Well…she didn't really say anything, but I'm not sure she'd want…"

"Please. I just want to…give back something of hers that I have." I lied, stumbling over the words slightly. I had never been a good fibber, but it looked like the red headed-girl, or Cat, wasn't picking up on anything suspicious.

"Oh, well I guess in that case…let me go get a pen!" she said, skipping off happily and I sighed in relief.

"Here ya go!" she said, returning and handing me a folded up slip of paper and smiling.

"Thanks so much," I said graciously, starting to unfold the paper to look at the address. "You really have no idea how much this means, because I've been looking for-"I stopped short as I opened the paper, frowning at the words on the page.

_Take a right at that one park; go straight until you get to the store with the really cute shoes. Turn left, and keep going to that spot on the road with all the weird cracks. Then go left and keep walking until you get to Jadey's neighborhood, and it's the big house with the prickly bushes!_

"Um…Cat?" I said, "I- I'm not sure if I can follow these directions."

"That's how I always find it." She said, looking upset and confused.

"Well, yeah, but I don't know-"I stopped and sighed, "Do you have her actual address? Or at least her street name?"

"Nope, sorry!" she shrugged, giggling at something as she did. I have no idea what.

"Well thanks anyway." I said with another sigh. "If you remember anything can you call me?" I asked, handing her my number.

"Sure!" she said perkily, grabbing the slip of paper out of my hands.

"Thanks." I said, feeling dejected, as I turned to leave.

"Bye-bye Beck!" she shouted behind me.

"Bye Cat." I said, shaking my head with a small smile, realizing maybe why Jade and this girl were friends.

After that failed attempt, I decided to go to the diner nearby to think up my next plan of action. I was far from ready to give up, even if every one of my efforts so far had been to no avail. After a long walk, which definitely helped to clear my mind and chase away some of the discouraging thoughts, I reached the diner: Jerry's.

I walked inside, the little bell on the door chiming and alerting everyone in the building of my entrance. I went over to one of the booths in the corner and slid inside, ordering a soda before leaning back into the fake red leather and exhaling loudly. I began to shut my eyes, still exhausted from the night before, but before they closed all the way, I saw a flash of brown, streaked hair out of the corner of my eyes.

My eyes shot open and I bolted upright, suddenly wide awake. I saw the figure more clearly and determined yes, this was definitely her. I shot out of my seat like it was fire, ignoring the waitresses' cries behind me, ordering me to stop where I was. So what if I may never be able to go back? There was no way I was going to let her get away from me a second time.

I pushed past a family of screaming toddlers and irritated adults and out onto the sidewalk. I looked around furiously, trying to spot where Jade could have gone. I spotted her shoving through the crowd, running down the sidewalk hurriedly. So she saw me. And she wanted nothing to do with me.

I turned to run after her, even more determined than before. A heavy rain had started to fall, blurring my eyesight and I cursed, my feet splashing up more water on me as I ran. 'Always sunny in Los Angeles' my ass, I thought angrily as I ran.

I felt like I was the cop in a police chase, trying desperately not to let my suspect get away. I remembered that morning, how people always got hurt during police chases. At that point, as I hopped over obstacles and dodged annoyed strangers, I was praying I wouldn't be that person.

I could still see the back of Jade's figure as she made her way frantically down the sidewalk, shoving people mercilessly out of her way as she did. Suddenly, she stopped short, and I looked up, seeing she was stuck at a crosswalk with a red light, and speeding traffic blocking her path.

I saw my opportunity and took it. I sprinted as fast I could down the sidewalk, approaching Jade quickly. I saw her glance back with a look of panic, and thinking she might not know it was me, called out after her.

"Jade! Hey, Jade! Wait up!" I yelled, still running.

Either she didn't hear me or she didn't care. The light turned green again and without hesitating she threw herself into the street, kicking up water and paying no mind to the people shouting at her from behind. If I wasn't sprinting before, now I was. I knew if I didn't make it to that light before it turned red for pedestrians again, I would have lost my chance, and I'd be back to square one.

Ignoring the pain I was beginning to feel in my chest, I put my head down and ran, as fast as I possibly could, to the same street corner where this morning I had almost been hit by a police car. Unfortunately for me, traffic lights in LA change fast. I didn't make it.

The light turned red just as I reached it, and I stopped short, breathing heavily in the blue light of the rain.

"Damn it." I hissed, kicking the light pole angrily. Looks like I was the one who got killed in the chase today. I was beginning to feel like I'd never talk to this girl again. Every time I felt like I was getting closer to finding her, something set me back again. Whether it was a phone book, a ditzy red-head, or a damn traffic light. Whatever it was, it made me feel like I was chasing after something I could never catch.

I sighed, closing my eyes, and leaned up against the wall of the building near me, letting the rain fall on me without caring. I felt my pocket vibrate, and reached in to pull out my phone. I frowned as I saw I had a message from an unknown number. I quickly opened up the text and read:

_Hi hi! This is Cat! I have her neighborhood name!_

I had my new lead.

**A/N: So as I said, now that I have more of an idea where I'm going, I'll try to update more often. Plus, don't worry you'll get a lot more Bade in the chapters after this. Promise. If you liked it, please review, follow, whatever. If you didn't like it, please review anyway (: Criticism is my friend. **


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